Coming Christmas 2019

“God, the best maker of all marriages, combine your hearts in one.”
– William Shakespeare, Henry V

Today I have thought a lot about being a husband and how awesome it truly is going be. I am so thankful for the grace of God and for Valerie’s patience. I have frequently joked with her if she is ready to handle me and she quips back if I am ready to handle her! I have been reading numerous books concerning the topic of marriage as well as her and I investing into one another through conferences, as well as having already gone through one marriage counseling session with our lead pastor. One pattern I have continued to see is that the Bible is authoritative about marriage and marriage is God’s idea. That’s why the design for marriage is of upmost importance because the Bible reveals what our Creator says about it.

Mr. Timothy Keller is becoming one of my favorite authors and in regards to marriage uses a simple, but powerful metaphor to bridge the Bible and us to that of a purchase of a vehicle. He states in his book, The Meaning of Marriage, to think about buying a car. A car is a machine that overwhelmingly is beyond our our own ability to create by ourselves so inevitably we should seek the owner’s manual and abide by what the designer says the car needs by way of treatment and maintenance. To ignore what the designer suggests can and should result in undesirable outcomes.

A man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery… – Ephesians 5:31-32

Marriage is a new frontier. I know that Valerie and I will have difficulties, but it will always be rewarding. Valerie has always said that we get a lifetime to figure it out. That we get a lifetime to help one another.

My grandparents would have been married 60 years this February if God hadn’t taken my grandfather home on December 2, 2014. My PaPa left an outstanding legacy for my uncles and my father, as well as myself. He left a legacy of love. If I can become just half the man he was, I’ll be content.

His generosity, work ethic, humility and selflessness are all qualities that I admired him for. Whatever PaPa was involved in, he made sure that it was done the right way. He never cut corners, and always made sure others were happy. I never once heard him complain. He never wanted to disappoint anyone, or let them down. There wasn’t ever a time anyone, including me, ever had to hear the word no to anything we asked of him. He would find a way to make it work or happen.

My PaPa loved Valerie. On a particular visit when I went to show him and my Granny the engagement ring I had purchased for her, he looked at the ring and then looked at me and said, “It’s beautiful. She is beautiful. Treat her right.”

Elaine H. Baldwin

Author and Speaker

One Ordinary Woman reaching out to other ordinary women touched by God’s Amazing Grace in order that we may thrive as “One Anothers” in a world that desperately needs to See the Gospel and Our Savior, Jesus Christ!